The Unravelling
by wingedsilverheart
Summary: After years living abroad, Mikasa finally returns to her hometown. She lost a lot and she's trying to make it up, but fate has other things for her in stock. Soon Mikasa is thrown into the dirty secrets of her past. With the help of her friends, and a certain someone she grows fond of, Mikasa and her friends discover things that'll change their life forever. -Rivamika- modern AU
1. Chapter 1

"Bonne mère de soirée, bon père de soirée", muttered Levi to his parent's graves.

"Today was a tedious first day at work, you'd think being a private detective was child's play.", chuckled Levi.

He always looked up to his parents when he was a child, always mimicked his parents, they were his idols, the best detectives in the city. " One day, you'll be the best, Levi cher", his mom would tell him. It's been eighteen years now, how time flies, one day they were with him, the next day they die in a gas leak accident at work.

"Its my 25th birthday today", he smiled a sad smile that didn't reach his eyes, "I love you, thank you both, for the gift of life".

* * *

Mikasa was always surrounded by death, from the moment she first breathed air, she exhaled death, _like a poisonous flower_, she thought to herself.

Her eyes started tearing up, she hastily said hello to her birth mother's grave-whom she's visited countless times in her life- and walked towards her family's grave, the Jaegers, the only family she ever knew, gone. "Mom, dad, Eren", she whispered, "I really miss you".

She quickly wiped her tears away; she hated crying in front of the dead, it disturbed their peace. "I felt like visiting you after my first day at Nursuring School, just when I thought I could finally live with you guys again, death takes you away from me".

It was her father's idea, he insisted on sending her to a boarding school for the elite students in Europe when she was 11. Last year, only weeks before she came back for vacation, a hellish fire devoured the whole house at night, turning her family to dust, turning everything to ash, people only noticed when it was too late, since her family lived in a remote area.

Mikasa was traumatised, spent days and nights crying in her little room in the boarding school, she had no where else to go, no one left to love her. She passed her last school year in a trance, and now here she was, trying hard, to keep moving forward. _Never give up,_ Eren always said, she is fighting, trying to live, if not for herself, then at least for her brother.

Levi bid his goodbye and was walking out of the cemetery, when he noticed a tall and slim figure with short black hair at the Jaeger's graves. _This must be their stepdaughter,_ he thought incredulously. Levi sympathised the poor girl, he didn't even realise he was walking towards her until she turned around and glanced at him with the saddest eyes he'd ever seen.

"Uhm, hello, you must be Mikasa?"

The girl's dark wet eyes widened a bit, "Hi, uhm, yes I am, I'm sorry, but have we met before?" she asked in a serious semi-embarrassed manner.

Levi smiled his dry smile, "No, it's just the Jaegers, I was part of the investigating team, you must be their daughter. I'm sorry for your loss", Levi said,

Mikasa nodded appreciatingly. " Thank you, I'm sorry for yours too".

"Apologies for interrupting your visit", Levi said curtly.

"It's alright, I was leaving anyway, it was nice meeting you mister?",

"Levi Bonhomme, just call me Levi, and the pleasure is mine", they shook hands. "If you need anything, please don't hesitate to give our agency a visit", he gave her his business card.

Mikasa smiled, read _Levi Bonhomme, private_ _detective_ with all his contact information, address, and office number. "Okay, sure I'll keep that in mind, thank you".

She said goodbye, and walked away brusquely her red scarf flailing in the wind, she was disoriented, a handsome stranger approaches her and offers her help, who coincidentally knows about her family, Mikasa felt a bit skeptic about that, she almost threw his business card but then thought better of it and put it in her bag, _you never know when you'd need someone like that, _she thought to herself.

* * *

"Destiny is usually just around the corner. Like a thief, a hooker, or a lottery vendor: its three most common personifications. But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it." -Shadow of the Wind

"Here's your check dear", the plump waitress said enthusiastically,

"Thank you ma'am", said Mikasa, closing the book she was reading. It was getting pretty late and the coffee shop was starting to get crowded. _A good sign for me to leave_, she thought.

It's been a long first week, and Mikasa couldn't help but think about Levi and what he could know about her folks. She never really understood how a whole house would turn to ashes like this, did they not smell smoke at all? Were they that deep in sleep? It never really left her mind, but the more she thought about it the more confused it made her. Her mom was a kind housewife, her father an honorable doctor; Eren was a normal high school student like her, so why would she think that anyone would want to harm them? She shook off the morbid thoughts.

* * *

"What the hell do you think you're doing Blondie?" barked Levi at his apprentice, Armin was sitting on the floor with countless files sprawled around him, every one of the steel cabinets open with many lettered cases. Other than the mess on the ground the room was spotless. An elegant black wooden desk in front of the window, one wall covered entirely with a black wooden bookshelf, it was mostly filled with books and magazines, but the first two rows were covered with medals and countless certificates and other useless prizes Levi got from work.

"I go grab a coffee and you start sniffing through my stuff and turning my office into a mess? And I though I told you that file is off limits".

"But the Jaeger's case is itching my nerves sir, I never knew he was a forensic doctor working here in the past!" Armin's eyes were bright, its like he got off on knowing things.

"Oh for the love of God, I didn't ask for a kid, give me that", Levi grabbed the file.

"Hey a picture fell down" Armin held the photo, "Oh isn't this dr. jaeger ? And who're these two? OH! These are your parents aren't they; you totally look like them! That's epic! Did they all work together? And who's this third guy?",

Levi sighed, "Yeah, these are my parents, and that's dr. Grisha Jaeger alright, and his colleague, they worked here a long time ago. Now give me the damn photo please, and forget about this case, it's closed anyway".

Armin was clearly downhearted "if it's closed anyway then why can't I read it?",

Levi rubbed his temples, "If I give it to you will you get off my neck",

"yes sir!" Armin said with renewed excitement.

"But give me the photo, you don't need it anyway".

"Alright! Thank you very much sir, have a good weekend sir!" Armin embraced the file like a kid holding his brand new toy and practically hopped out of the office.

"If you lose it then don't bother coming back to work Arlert!" shouted Levi behind him. _I hope I don't regret this,_ he thought to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

"So darlin', how'd ya find the waffles?" asked the jumpy young waitress

"They're good, thank you," replied Mikasa distractedly.

"Oh common, why the grim face? Tell me honey, is it a guy botherin' ya, or maybe a friend? Do ya want some ice cream to cheer ya up? Sasha here is a heart expert, nothin' like a good scoop of our homemade ice cream to fix a frown, mark my word," winked the girl.

"No, I'm really fine here, just waiting for someone," replied Mikasa, slightly annoyed.

"Ah I get it, it's a first date and you're nervous, aren't ya?" Sasha took the opposite seat, "what's your name sweetie?"

"It's Mikasa, and I'm not waiting for a date, it's just-" she shifted in her seat,

"Well nice meetin' ya Mikasa," interrupted Sasha, "it's good to finally see a fresh face around! All we ever get here are grumpy old customers with terrible bed breath, and that's just in the morning. Wait until it gets dark and the crazy junkies start showin' and start trashing up the place, and guess who ends up cleanin' their damn mess-"

Sasha stopped talking when she heard the door open, coming in was Levi with his neat black hair and long dark coat, face as impassive as ever, hands casually in his pockets, he spotted Mikasa and walked towards her table.

"Ooooh, I see why you're nervous," the girl whispered audibly, "don't worry, you look great, just smile a bit and ya'll be fine," Sasha pinched Mikasa's cheeks excitement written all over her face, she quickly stood up and offered Levi a menu, Levi shook her off politely,

"I'll just have some coffee please,"

"Alrighty, one coffee in a jiffy", Sasha said cheerfully, winking at Mikasa.

"Good morning" said Levi taking the opposite seat,

"Good morning, sorry for bothering you on a Sunday" Mikasa said,

"Don't worry about it, it's not like I have house chores or anything," he lied, "So, what's the problem?" asked Levi in a hushed tone.

"Well, I've been getting these weird texts lately, empty texts from a blocked number. I didn't really bother but then the same number called me last night, exactly at 11 p.m. He was quiet at first, and then he mockingly whispered 'welcome back Mikasa' and hung up before I got a chance to reply. Tried calling but it kept saying the number is unavailable".

Mikasa sighed, she was tired, couldn't sleep a wink after the eerie phone call, stayed up all night thinking and worrying.

Levi furrowed his brows,

"That sounds odd, if you wouldn't mind coming to my office after we're done here, I'll try tracing the sociopath and give him a lesson or two about phone manners".

Sasha came with a full tray; "Here's your coffee dear," she put the coffee down and walked away to the other tables, mouthing to Mikasa, _smile._

"Also, I wanted to talk to you about something important, regarding your father". Levi took a sip of his coffee,

"My father? What about him?" Mikasa asked defensively.

"Just things regarding his work, top secret matters, it's not something to talk about in a public place anyway,"

"My father was a doctor, I don't recall him mentioning another job. What could he possibly be involved in that's so secretive, and why would you know about it anyway?" Mikasa asked bluntly, she doesn't like it when strangers start getting personal, especially when it comes to family.

" He used to work as a forensic doctor in our agency, it was a long time ago, was a fellow worker of my parents, who were detectives back in the day. I know because I've read his files, no need to go on alert mode miss Jaeger," Levi said in a harsh tone.

Mikasa took a moment to contemplate,

"But why are you telling me this now?" she asked skeptically.

"Because you should know now that he's gone, and now that you've got a stalker, makes you question about your family's background, don't you think?"

"I don't really understand how that's going to help solve anything, I don't want trouble". Mikasa was starting to feel uncomfortable, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you about this, I think I'll handle it from here," she said without meeting his eyes.

"Listen to me, a call like that, I personally wouldn't take it lightly, it doesn't seem settling. Avoiding a problem will only make it worse and-"

"I just don't want any trouble" interrupted Mikasa,

Levi sighed, "look, I was just trying to help, and you seem like you're overthinking things, so I thought you'd like to know about your father, maybe it'll help you find answers, see if he had any enemies. That wouldn't be unlikely for a successful man like himself."

Mikasa bit her lip; she thought maybe he was right, if she hadn't had similar thoughts in the first place, she wouldn't have given much attention to a stupid stalker.

She reluctantly agreed, "Okay, I'll come with you,"

Levi nodded, called for the check.

When they were leaving Sasha waved goodbye at Mikasa with a wide smile,

"Please come again,"

"Sure, it was nice meeting you Sasha,"

Mikasa said leaving the café, Levi holding the door for her,

"You're riding with me?"

"If you don't mind, I didn't bring my car; my house isn't far from here," replied Mikasa,

"That's fine, I'll drive you back home if you want to."

"Okay, thanks," Mikasa saw that his car was a classical black Mercedes-Benz, her favorite kind of car, she didn't comment about it though.

_Probably the fanciest car I'll ever ride,_ she thought to herself.

* * *

They rode the car in silence, other than the quick phone call Levi made telling Armin to quickly come with the Jaeger's file, Levi didn't bother make conversation, which was utterly fine with Mikasa.

They parked just outside the doors; Mikasa was astounded by the size of the building, fifty stories of a beautiful glassed skyscraper.

"Follow me," Levi said rushing through the doors, Mikasa followed closely.

The elevator went up to the 23rd floor; there was no one in sight, they walked to their right towards a row of office doors, they stopped at a Black wooden door with a silver plate that read _office_ 2311.

When they came in, Armin was already in Levi's office, holding the file in his hands, his face apprehensive.

"Here's the file sir," Armin got off his seat, handing the file begrudgingly to Levi.

"Thank you Armin," Levi said putting the file on his desk.

Armin saw Mikasa standing at the door, observing the office; she seemed a bit troubled about something. "Hello there, I'm Armin Arlert, what's your name?" he asked politely.

"Hi," replied Mikasa, "I'm Mikasa Jaeger".

Armin's eyes widened in surprise, "No frickin way! This is so cool, I have A LOT to ask you, if you don't mind".

Levi took out an A/C adapter and connected the USB end to his computer, "Mikasa, give me your phone please,"

She handed over her phone; Levi connected it to the computer.

"Can I help you guys with something? What's the matter Ms. Jaeger?" Armin asked.

"We're trying to decode a blocked number, and please, no need to call me miss" Mikasa quickly replied.

"Armin and I are going to work on this, you can have a look at the file while we do." Levi told her, his brows furrowed in concentration.

Mikasa took the file and sat on a small seat, the file was clearly old.

_Dr. jaeger, a highly skilled forensic, along with his fellow colleague Dr. Clevane, worked for twelve years in the agency._

_Leaving the job for personal reasons, Dr. Jaeger settles on working at , a private local hospital._

Mikasa quickly went through some more personal information, achievements, and special cases; she stopped at a title that grabbed her attention:

_Affiliations, and investigations_

It was an article about Dr. Jaeger's last of works in the agency.

_Dr. Jaeger and Dr. Clevane, despite the shock of losing several colleagues, were able to check the corpses for information regarding investigation number 4398772AW, the case was closed shortly after, confirming that the poisonous gas leak was most likely due to bad ventilation, scarce care, and poor safety measures during investigation on the victims' part._

Mikasa read the list of the deceased, ten people, including Levi's parents. Her heart cringed at the thought of a younger Levi losing his parents in such a gruesome way.

"Shitty bastard," Levi grunted, "we can't trace the call, it's impossible." he sighed.

"It seems the guy knows what he's doing, I would watch my step from now on if I were you," Armin said to Mikasa, who looked paler than just moments ago.

"Here," Levi handed her the phone, "it's useless, let's just wait and see what happens for now." Mikasa hesitantly took it. "Common I'll take you home."

"I hope to see you another time Mikasa!" Armin said,

"Sure, thank you for your help Armin,"

"You're welcome!"

* * *

When Levi dropped her at her apartment he didn't spare her without giving her instructions,

"Don't go out late,"

"I won't,"

"Make sure your door is always locked,"

"I always do,"

"and windows,"

"I live on the 35th floor,"

"I don't care, and I already put a strong block to his number, but he'll probably get it back one way or another, anyway just ignore him if he calls,"

"Okay," Mikasa said hesitantly,

"Okay, if you need anything you know where to find me," he said finally.

Mikasa thanked him for his help, and climbed the building's steps, eager to be left alone with her endless thoughts.

* * *

Later that night, while Levi was reading the daily newspaper, his phone rang.

"Hello there, you're fast," he said cynically,

"Well you're nearly as fast as I am , I see you've taken to your parents," he was smirking,

"What do you know about them anyway," Levi spat,

"More than you ever will," he laughed,

"Fuck you",

"Getting obscene already, tut tut," the man said in his gruff voice

"Get to the point already, what is it you want?" Levi was losing patience,

"Why ask stupid questions and waste both our time. You know I'm after her, I think I've wasted enough years, I already have her brother, I just need her, the last piece of my puzzle," he said with a hint of irony in his voice.

"What're you talking about, her brother is dead, and we've seen his body and confirmed it was his, and what the fuck are you planning to do anyway?" Levi said angrily, breaking his usually husky voice.

"You see, that's what bothers me about you detectives, you think you know everything, don't you? Ha, really amusing you all are. Like I said, since you guys blocked me from her phone number, tell her Eren's with me, that's all you need to do,"

"you're not getting anywhere with me," Levi was about to hang up,

"you really don't want to get in my way," he said menacingly,

"You really don't want to go there with me," Levi replied sharply,

"You'll see how life works son. I'll call you again in three days, I have the right to see Mikasa, and she would kill to see her brother. After all, I do need her, she's part of my experiment. Besides, she's my own biological daughter, I'll get to her one way or another."

He hung up, leaving Levi in an angry and confused manner.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 everybody! Sorry for the late post :3

* * *

When Armin got to work the next morning the receptionist, a pretty woman with shiny long auburn hair, told him to immediately go to Levi's office,

"He said he wants to see you as soon as you arrive, he seemed troubled about something," she said in her pleasant voice, her hazel eyes worried.

_If only he'd see how people looked up to him around here, _Armin thought, wondering why such a decent man isn't seeing anyone.

"Good morning sir," he said politely as he came into the office, the venetian blinds were closed, permitting a dim light into the room, he could tell from the look on Levi's face he hadn't slept well the night before, if slept at all.

"Please close the door behind you Armin," he said in a toneless voice.

"May I ask what's wrong sir?" Armin said cautiously.

Levi sighed, and then told him about what had happened last night. Armin was listening intently, Levi told him "Mikasa's stalker" had called, threatened Levi, and said he had her brother Eren, in captive. Armin's eyes widened, he was rather surprised, but the bombshell was what Levi said last: "Then he said Mikasa's his daughter, and hung up." Armin exclaimed in surprise.

"I already sent a request to Chief Erwin Smith, asking permission to reopen the Jaeger's case," Levi said rubbing his eyes, "Goddammit," he muttered.

"Well, this sounds really messed up," Armin said after a moment of high strung tension.

Levi shot him a deadly look.

"I-I mean, don't you have any idea who this man could be?" Armin quickly added.

"I'm almost sure it's this Dr. Clevane. He knows my parents, and he obviously knows the Jaegers. When he resigned several months after my parents died, he didn't say where he was going, or at least, it isn't in his record." He sighed, uncertain.

"But if it was him, why would he leave his daughter behind, if she's so important for his experiment? Whatever that is," Armin thought audibly.

"That's what I don't understand, he left before Mikasa was born though. Her birthmother died several hours after labor." Levi said.

"The records don't say how he met Mikasa's mom though?" inquired Armin.

"They don't, but she was a friend of Carla Jaeger, Dr. Grisha Jaeger's wife, so she probably met this lunatic through them."

"So that's why they adopted Mikasa, for their friend's sake, that's really nice of them." Armin thought, "So, when are you planning on telling her?" he asked.

"Tell her what exactly?" Levi asked without looking up his report.

"About the whole thing of course."

"Definitely not," Levi paused, "I'll just tell her to be more careful for now."

"With all due respect sir, I don't think that's a good idea, since she doesn't really trust you.

Hiding important information like this isn't going to help in gaining her trust, heck it would make her even more skeptic." Armin pointed out.

"I just want to make sure this man isn't lying, because if he isn't, then that means he's the Jaeger's murderer, and that murder was made to look like an accident." Levi stated.

Armin felt sickened.

"I know you're only a trainee and you have night classes, but you're vigilant and quite intelligent, so, would you like to help me investigate this?" Levi said grimly. "I'm warning you though, this might get dirty."

"I'm definitely in sir, so where do you suggest we start?"

* * *

Mikasa was driving back home when her phone rang, her heart jumped, hesitantly; she grabbed the phone and checked the caller ID.

"Hello," she said, annoyed at her edginess, "You gave me a fright."

"Sorry about that, you're driving?" Levi could tell from the noise.

"Yes, I just left campus, long day." She said.

"Well then, go straight to your house, it's getting dark already, and make sure you're not being followed." Levi ordered.

"I already am, doing both actually." She replied; a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"I'm just making sure, I apologize for coming off as a bossy prick."

Mikasa inwardly agreed that he was, "Apology not accepted, I'm supposed to be enjoying my college life, you're killing it." She said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well, at least you seem like you had a good day," Levi said.

"Yeah it was fairly peaceful," she said, remembering the nice day she had in school, she had a presentation that went well.

"Glad to know, take care." Levi said, his monotone voice hiding the distressed state he was in.

"Sure, have a goodnight." she replied, smiling slightly.

He might be a stranger, but she felt that he cared for her, even if it was his job, it felt nice. For the first time in so long, she didn't feel very lonely.

* * *

_Mikasa walked towards the mirror above the sink, she couldn't help but think there was something amiss, she was in what looked like a hospital's bathroom, her hair was longer, but that wasn't only it, looking intently at her face, she realised it looked a bit different than hers, smaller eyes, slightly bigger lips, less angular face. She slowly lifted her finger and touched her lips, which were chapped; she realised she looked paler than usual, and she felt really tired. _

_A kick to her stomach broke her out of this strange reverie, she looked down at her self, "__**I'm pregnant?"**__ she thought, horrified she quickly left the bathroom, she was right, she was in a hospital room, except the metallic door made it look like a prison cell. Panicking, Mikasa quickly tried the door, it was locked, she knocked and knocked until her knuckles hurt, no one answered. _

_She wanted to scream, frustrated and confused, she started to feel sick, and she felt something warm coming down her legs, when she looked down she saw that she was bleeding,_

_a pool of blood was already forming on the floor, she screamed-_

Mikasa woke up in cold sweat, gasping for air, her heart hammering in her chest, _it was just a dream_, she thought, her panic slowly fading as she got up and washed her face, _yet it felt so vivid. _

She took a quick shower. To change the pace, she decided to go eat breakfast at the Blouse café close by.

"Good mornin' sunshine!" Sasha practically jumped at her when she came in.

"Good morning Sasha. How've you been?" she asked the girl, eager to be distracted from the disturbing dream.

"Well ya know, same ol' same ol'," she said in her fruity voice. "So, is it just you?"

"Yes, I'll just sit on one of the stools," Mikasa replied.

"okie dokie, ya know what ya want?" she asked.

"Just some waffles and a glass of fresh orange juice please," Mikasa seated herself on one of the red stools in the middle.

"Okay darlin'."

When Sasha came back with Mikasa's order, she took the stool next to her, looked around, and then started talking, "You know, just last night, a blondie with a crabby face came in here askin' about a Mikasa Jaeger," Sasha said quietly. "I told her I never heard of such a name, she then showed me a picture of ya, but don't worry, I told her I didn't recognize ya. To be honest, she looked like a creep, and my instincts never lie, somethin' told me she was trouble." Sasha said, her usually happy face now serious.

"That's odd," Mikasa said, feeling suddenly exposed, _what if this woman Sasha's telling me about was working with the stalker, what if the stalker found out I live somewhere in this neighborhood, _she thought, mortified.

Sasha felt the unease coming off of Mikasa,

"But don't ya worry, she's probably long gone now, she won't bother ya." Sasha waved her hand reassuring.

"If she comes by again, please tell me" Mikasa said, her mind wandering.

Sasha changed the subject, talking about her busy life as a waitress and student.

"Where do you study though?" Mikasa asked her.

"Oh, I take online psychology classes, I don't have time to attend college, I like workin' here in the family business." Sasha said, they talked while Mikasa ate, she liked the kind girl, despite her talkative nature, it helped Mikasa keep her lurking thoughts at bay.

* * *

Armin was on his way to work when he received a text from Levi, "_good news, we got the green light from Chief Smith on the case." _Armin was glad.

When he arrived Levi asked him to look for files on Dr. Clevane and Dr. Jaeger from boxes he got from the storage, they looked too dusty.

"Can we take out the gas leak incident file as well?" Armin asked; curiosity getting the better of him.

"And why is that?" Levi asked over his shoulder.

"It must have some useful information regarding Dr. Clevane and Dr. Jaeger." Armin suggested.

"Fine, do whatever you think will help, try writing a report about your findings." Levi said, looking through pages of Dr. Clevane's file.

"Apparently, this guy is a genetic engineer, but took a minor in Criminology and Forensics." Levi said after a moment of silence.

"That's impressive, although quite diverse if you ask me." Armin said, looking for more relevant stuff in the boxes, "Why would he want to study all that?" he questioned.

"I'm not quite sure yet myself, perhaps he was always a madman with abhorrent future plans," Levi replied.

Whenever Armin dusted off the files he took out, Levi grunted in disapproval.

* * *

Mikasa was studying in the library for an upcoming test that afternoon, she was intently reading an article on how to effectively calm down a panicking patient when a girl suddenly loomed over her, "Hello," she said, Mikasa saw that she was a short blonde woman, probably in her mid-twenties, her face wore a passive expression, Mikasa's mind quickly jumped to what Sasha told her that morning.

"Hi," Mikasa said quietly,

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" the girl asked, sitting anyway.

"Okay, sure." Mikasa said more alert now.

"My name's Annie Leonhardt, you're Mikasa Jaeger, right?" the girl said in her croaky voice.

"Yes, yes I am," Mikasa replied hesitantly,

"I knew your brother in high school, Eren, he was a really nice kid," she said.

"Oh, so were you two friends? Because he never mentioned an Annie before." Mikasa said, coming off a bit harsher than she'd intended.

"No, we barely spoke to each other, but what happened really hit us all, my condolences for your loss," She said.

"Thank you." Mikasa replied.

"Well it was nice meeting you Mikasa," Annie said as she got off

"Likewise, Annie," Mikasa said, getting back to her studies_, she must be the girl Sasha told me about,_ Mikasa thought, eyeing the suspicious girl as she walked towards one of the far bookshelves, her slim figure stiff, as if expecting an assault.

* * *

When Mikasa left the library she dialled Levi's number, he answered after three rings,

"Yes, Jaeger?" he said.

"Would you mind looking into Annie Leonhardt for me?"

"I don't think that's how you make friends Mikasa." he said sardonically..

"I'm serious. And besides, I think I know how people make friends." Mikasa was getting tired of Levi's irksome attitude, "She seems suspicious, she was asking for me at the Blouse Café, showed the girl working there a picture of me, and she just-"

"Okay slow down," Levi interrupted, "the café that's a few blocks away from your apartment?" he asked.

"Yes, and as I was saying, she just approached me here in the library, telling me she knew Eren from school." Mikasa finished.

Levi was silent for a moment, "Okay, I'll look her up, give me a second." Levi said searching the computer records on his desk, "so what do you plan to do?" he asked, Mikasa could hear him typing vigorously.

"I'll pass by the grocery store grab some stuff, make sure no one's following me, and then go home." She said casually.

"Sounds like a good plan, but I meant about her?" Levi seemed distracted.

"Well I don't know, ignore her for the time being." Mikasa said.

"Classic, Annie Leonhardt, 23 years old, parents deceased, brought up in an orphanage since birth, private tutoring due to inhospitable behaviour, that's all there is, no record of her current status." Levi concluded.

"But, how come she lied saying she went to school with Eren? I don't understand,"

"Perhaps she knew him from some other place," Levi said, remembering what Dr. Clevane told him about Eren, "Anyway, need anything else?" he asked, changing the subject.

"No, thanks," Mikasa said.

"Alright then, be careful Mikasa." Levi said.

"I will." she hung up.

* * *

Annie can't say she isn't a fan of conspiracies and evil masterminds. she always knew she was somewhat sadistic, after all, not many people admitted, which means she's saner than so many others.

Despite that, she hated being tied down, if it weren't for the debt she's paying to this nutty doctor, she would've left this shithole a long time ago.

"So did you talk to her?" asked Reiner when she approached, he was lying comfortably on the grass, hands under his massive blonde head, his eyes shone like gold under the sunlight.

"Yeah," Annie replied. "I think it's time you guys did the dirty work." she said annoyed, they were all in this together after all.

"This is crazy, what if we get caught lurking around her, she _knows _scary people." Bertholdt said, he was always the first to chicken out of things, since they were all in diapers.

"Calm down Bert, the only one she would suspects is Annie," Reiner said sarcastically, getting off the grass and dusting off.

"Bailing me already, huh." Annie said indignantly.

"You know I can never betray you guys." Reiner said, now serious.

"So do we wait for his call or act now?" he asked.

They were assigned on kidnapping Mikasa, but Dr. Clevane strictly told them to wait for his command. He had promised them that by doing so; they will be free and finally done paying their debt.

"I say we leave it be for now." Bertholdt said, his eyes darting left and right.

"I say we follow her, when it gets less crowded in here, so we take her, drug her, her car would be here so people would look around this area first, which will give us time-"

"Woah, slow down." Reiner interrupted Annie, "We don't want to blow it, I agree with Bert, that girl's got eyes, and we have lives ahead of us. I don't want to end up in prison, besides, what if someone sees us?"

"Look, its either we do it now, quick, clean, and easy, or wait until tomorrow when that motherfucking detective assigns bodyguards or God knows what, and it'll be ten times harder with higher risks of exposure." Annie said sharply,

Reiner sighed, "You do know we need to prepare for this, she might not know of her abilities yet, but if she panics she could unconsciously beat us all to pulps."

"I already have the paralysis serum," Annie said with her calm half smile,

"Wait guys!" Bertholdt started to panic. "Where on earth are you planning to take her?! Dr. Clevane will definitely be displeased by our disobedience!" he said.

"Dr. Clevane can suck his dick." Annie said, irritated.

"Besides, when we take her we can lock her up in Ward E, he never goes there anyway." Reiner said, the doctor had bought an abandoned old prison -that was on the outskirts of the city- a long time ago under a false name, that's where they kept Eren. All cells were underground, and basically all their activities were in there.

"Perfect, so we attack right before she leaves." Annie said.


	4. Chapter 4

Eren lost count of the days he'd been manacled to this damp moldy cell, but it felt like years. He'd been locked up deep in the ground; the claustrophobic aura was stifling and unbearable. He was in dirty rags, his body had so many fading scars of countless gashes and cuts he got from so many days of torture, which were nothing close to how hopeless and angered he was. It all happened so fast; a man came to their house on that cold dark night.

* * *

Eren opened the door and saw a tall guy with greying hair and a cold smile,

"Well look at you boy," he said without preamble, "Where's your daddy?" he looked around.

Eren heard his father's quick footsteps as he came down the stairs,

"Clevane" his father breathed out, looking stunned.

"Who is he dad?" Eren inquired

"He's an old family friend Eren, please go back to your room", his father shooed him off nonchalantly, but Eren could tell his dad was looking apprehensive.

Not thirty minutes had passed when Eren heard his mother crying out, he came running down the stairs, panicked.

The whole floor was filled with a white smoke; he covered his mouth, looking for his parents.

"EREN, LEAVE, NOW!" his dad screeched from somewhere in front of him, Eren could make out his father's silhouette with his burning watery eyes, he was holding at his neck painfully, suddenly crashing to the ground seconds after.

"DAD!"

Eren ran towards his father, he heard his mom moaning in the kitchen, he barely had time to reach his father when he was held back by enormous arms, seconds later a needle stung his back. The last thing he remembered was the horrid slicing of his flesh, the smell of gasoline, and a fire that ate everything out.

* * *

Eren spent months after in comatose, he was told when he awoke, the man who murdered his parents had the audacity to speak so serenely. All Eren could do was cry in anger and torment, he wailed for weeks, eventually he stopped crying and only felt an aching numbness that threatened to swallow him. He was always taken for tests, checkups, torture, and was questioned about Mikasa's whereabouts. His only small fraction of solace was that she was safe, for now.

No one came in for him today, which was worrying, his mouth was so dry and cracked and his empty stomach gnawed at him, he tried relentlessly to break free of the chains, but to no avail. He started screaming like an animal -that's how he annoyed them into checking up on him- he wailed for hours, but no one came.

The man that killed his parents, who called himself Clevane, told Eren about his experiments on him and Mikasa after Eren regained consciousness and some sense back.

He unceremoniously welcomed Eren to what he called "The cemetery of the living", by bashing his head into the wall until his face bled.

"You were your father's experiment, Mikasa was mine. Alas, I had to murder my friend. Don't look at me like that, it's his fault." Dr. Clevane had told Eren, whose eyes had clearly shown wrath that could wipe the whole city off the map. Dr. Clevane's graying light hair was shining under the white lamp; he wore a white lab coat over his gaunt body, his smile never reaching his cold grey sunken eyes.

Eren would only be left alone with this maniac after he'd been tightly chained into a flat metallic table, his mouth would be covered with a metallic mouth cover.

"I didn't abandon her, but they were hard times and I had things to do, your father knew that. I could tell he regretted everything we did together, but that doesn't give him the right to take away my child." the doctor said with malice, heating a pair of metallic forceps, when he saw the uneasy look Eren had given him he casually said, "Ah, I want to see if your nails would regenerate as well," smiling sadistically, already knowing they would.

"Anyway, your father turned you into a regenerating monster, which is how I managed to fake your death. Mikasa, on the other hand, can reach extreme levels of strength and agility, if put to the right training; but she ought to be already strong and capable." He said pensively.

After the forceps turned red hot, Dr. Clevane approached Eren, smiling he took his hand and plucked a nail as if it were a hair, Eren screamed, his eyes burned with hot tears.

"That's also for not telling me where Mikasa is, but don't worry, I will find her." He whispered threateningly in Eren's ear.

Eren's nails had regenerated a day after, Clevane had relentlessly yanked them all out, it was the worst kind of physical pain Eren had felt.

Eren tried to shake off the grim memories; his torment sessions have ceased for a while now. On most of the days he would wish he'd just die, but the more persistent thoughts were to live and travel the world, which seemed very unlikely and farfetched in his situation, but he didn't give up.

His bloodshot-eyes started watering, he was a mess, a bundle of rotting forgotten mess, his hot tears cleared a path through his grimy face, he started thrashing around and screaming in frustration, his head sunk low, and he whispered to himself, almost as if he was pleading to god: "Someone… Anyone… Please get me out of here…" he whimpered, "I don't think I can take this any longer…"

* * *

Sitting through her last lecture of the day, Mikasa couldn't help but wander off with her thoughts. That girl Annie stirred up her memories, and all she kept thinking about was how much Eren's absence has created a void in her. Eventually, her thoughts weighted her down and she couldn't stand the claustrophobic aura of the room, she packed her things and went out of the semi-filled lecture hall.

She was walking through the empty hallway when she heard heavy footsteps from behind; a big finger tapped her shoulder, a croaky voice stopping her, "Excuse me miss."

Mikasa turned around to find a bulky, blond man with a stern expression.

"Yes?" she asked hastily, gripping her bag.

"You dropped this," he handed her her ID card, a white card with blue patterns with her photo, name, and age on it. Mikasa, quite sure she hadn't dropped it anywhere, feigned her surprise and took it, she was sure it was in her bag, _unless someone stole it._

"Thank you," she said without looking him in the eye, she kept walking feeling his eyes on her back. She couldn't shake off this eerie feeling about him.

Her class was one of the last of the day; the building was quite empty. She could hear the guy distantly murmuring to his phone, she quickly descended a few flights of stairs when she heard footsteps coming from bellow. She quickened her pace, descending several steps to the fourth floor; she just wanted to leave, when suddenly she could hear the blonde guy descending the stairs.

Mikasa broke into a run.

"Hey stop!" she heard someone calling from behind, a familiar female voice, Mikasa chose to ignore it.

"REINER!" Mikasa heard the girl shout.

Mikasa dropped her bag and tried the first room she saw to her left, _Goddammit._

She ran until she reached the stairs, and just then Reiner grabbed her, closing her mouth with his big hand.

He pulled her away from the door, shoving her into the wall under the stairs, blocking her.

"Don't cause too much trouble now, there are cameras and people here,", he said in a serious tone.

Mikasa grabbed his hand and tore it away from her face, twisted his arm and kicked him in the groin, she was quicker than she had expected, Reiner cried out, momentarily losing his grip.

"Bertholdt, help Reiner!" Annie said, running towards them; taking out a needle with a green serum inside it.

"Alright" the tall dark haired guy replied as he ran closer to them, he looked panicky.

"What do you want from me," Mikasa thrashed again, she was sure Reiner's leaden grips on her arms would leave bruises, her eyes watered.

"Stop it," he seethed, "could you hurry up here,"

Bertholdt hesitantly grabbed Mikasa's legs and pinned them to the wall,

Annie rushed over and shot the needle with the serum into her right leg.

The moment the liquid entered her bloodstream Mikasa felt like her legs were burning inside out.

"The effect should take over shortly guys," Annie sighed in relief.

Mikasa's heart pommelled in her chest, _fight, _she remembered Eren's words from long ago_, If you win you live, if you lose you die, if you don't fight you can't win._

Mikasa screeched and, mustering all her strength, shoved Reiner and Bertholdt off of her, kicking Bertholdt's nose and punching Reiner's.

"Fuck off," Mikasa grabbed Annie by her clothes and knocked her head into the wall, Annie, screaming, scratched her face as she did so, Bertholdt retreated, Reiner advanced on her.

Mikasa shoved Annie into him, making him stagger, Annie kicked blindly.

"Why isn't it working?!" Reiner shouted at Annie, his nose was bleeding, and Berthold was somewhere in the vicinity, afraid of getting caught.

"How the hell am I supposed to know!"

Mikasa swiftly turned around and ran towards the stairs, surprisingly Annie and Reiner didn't follow, there was absolutely no one around, her body was burning and heart felt like it would leap out of her chest.

As she reached the ground floor, she went into the closest room she could find, locking the door, Mikasa's legs gave way, she slid into the floor, hot tears streaming down her cheeks, burning the wound Annie left on it.

The room was a small lecturing class, with several windows that viewed some yellowing trees, slowly with numbing hands she took out her phone from an inside pocket and speed dialed Levi's number, the phone slipping from her grips.

"Hello," Levi answered on the third ring.

"I can't move," Mikasa said in a strangled voice.

"Mikasa can you tell me what's going on?" he said, his voice alert.

"Please send help," her voice broke out.

The numbness was edging onto her vision; her head felt heavy, and Levi's urging voice was fading out, soon after she was floating into oblivion.

"She left her things behind, but there's no phone.", Annie said, she winced with every step; her head was throbbing from the surprisingly ferocious blow it got.

"Let's leave before we get caught; I think we've done enough damage for today." Bertholdt said in an adenoidal voice, his nose looked terrible; he had left them to go make sure no one was around, he explained when seeing a pissed off Reiner and a seething Annie defeated.

"Shut up, and keep this between us, if Clevane finds out it wont be as nice as what just happened, lets just go before someone passes by." The trio walked out of the building in silence, they would have to prepare better for this before making another move.

* * *

"Shit." Levi barked, slamming his phone into the wall.

Armin winced at the sudden violence, "She might not be harmed," he hastily arranged the report he was making and put it on Levi's desk.

"That motherfucker is playing it dirty, let's go." Levi quickly wore his black cloak; Armin grabbed his stuff and followed him out.

They traced her call making sure of Mikasa's whereabouts; the sun was already setting when they arrived at the campus' gates.

Levi showed the keeper his badge, the gates opened and the car rushed inside. Armin was thrust backwards, he didn't dare talk or look at Levi, they parked and continued on foot, and stopped by the fifth building.

"It's this one," Levi rushed forward.

They got inside the building, the reception had a high ceiling with three hallways, two elevators and three stairs leading up, there was no one around but a janitor sweeping the floor, he eyed them and quickly looked away.

Levi turned on the sound tracer; a loud ringing sound came from a hallway to the left.

"She's close," he said walking towards the sound, Armin followed.

They didn't go on for too long; the ringing was quite loud coming from a closed door to their left, Levi tried it.

"Call the janitor and tell him to get his keys," he ordered Armin.

Levi fought the urge to break it down.

Two minutes later Armin came with the suspicious janitor,

"Who're you guys?" he inquired,

"We're detectives, now open this door." Levi showed him his badge.

The janitor grunted and unlocked the door,

"Well I didn't lock thi-" the janitor's eyes widened at the sight of Mikasa, she was awkwardly lying on the floor, her phone an inch away from her hand, and her cheek had dried blood on it.

Levi rushed in, and searched for her pulse,

"She's not dead is she?" asked the janitor in concern.

"No, just out cold." Levi carried her off the floor, and Armin took her phone.

"Thank you, you are not to speak of this to anyone whatsoever." Levi ordered sternly.

"Alright, I've seen nothing".

* * *

**Hello :3 please dont kill me guys.. I didnt bail but I had finals and stuff.. sorry!**

**I hope you like this chapter! Also, please please review! I love to know that there are real people reading my stuff and I want to know if you guys like how this is going :3**

**Thank you very much! I promise to update soon!**


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